Man harassed ex-friends at the expense of the Sheriff's Office, deputies say

The Sheriff’s Office received numerous calls from a Brooksville resident who had recently petitioned the court for an Injunction for Protection from a former friend, Scott Rudolph Wright, and had been waiting for deputies to serve the injunction, according to a news release from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to a call at the Brooksville residence because Wright’s vehicle was parked there and the caller hoped they'd be able to serve the injunction.

But Wright, 41, was nowhere to be found when deputies arrived.

Deputies left but were called back a short time later when the doors on Wright’s vehicle began locking and un-locking and the alarm began sounding. Once again, there was no sign of Wright, the release stated.

Deputies responded a third time when another call was placed to the Sheriff’s Office after the alarm began to sound on Wright’s vehicle once again. This time deputies brought a K-9 team this time, but were still unable to locate Wright, deputies said.

A deputy called then Wright’s cell phone. Wright answered and allegedly told the deputy that he was “over an hour away” and quickly hung up. The deputies left. Again.

But they quietly returned to the area on foot and watched Wright’s vehicle alarm sounding off again as the residents turned off their lights for the night.

The K-9 team tracked Wright to a residence a just a short distance away, deputies said.

Wright allegedly told deputies “he was just trying to scare the victims, so they would not mess with his belongings or his truck” and had been watching the lawmen come and go -- and even called the Communications Center in anger, to ask why the victims had not been removed from their home, the report stated.

Wright's prank tied up emergency service personnel, both communications and law enforcement officers for four hours, as he tried to “scare” his victims.